A New World, Not So Bad

[ 08:49 ]

Something snapped. After minutes of building tension, the breaking point finally came. Julius's five mind-controlled puppets moved like killing machines, their eyes empty and cold. They raised whatever they could find—tire irons, broken bottles, chunks of concrete—and brought them down on innocent people.

The first scream cut through the air like a blade.

"Kill him! He's attacking!" someone shrieked, pointing at the motorcycle taxi driver who had just beaten his third victim to death. But it wasn't a warning anymore—it was permission. Permission to let the monster inside every human being break free.

The next murder happened fast. A middle-aged man who'd been shaking with fear suddenly turned to the woman standing next to him. His eyes went dark, his mind flooded with the system's whispers. One person. Just kill one person. His breathing turned sharp and quick as he grabbed her throat. No hesitation. No mercy. Just cold, brutal calculation.

She fought back, clawing at his hands, but he was stronger. Her neck snapped with a sickening crack. She hit the ground, her empty eyes staring up at nothing.

[ CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE BECOME AWAKENED! ]

The notification blazed in front of him like a neon sign. For a second, he just stood there, stunned. Then a twisted smile spread across his face. He'd done it. He'd actually done it.

One murder became two. Two became three. Three became hundreds. The riot spread like wildfire through the city, turning ordinary people into killers. Some hunted with sick excitement, their eyes gleaming with greed as they picked off the weak and helpless. Others killed in pure desperation, striking back when attacked, only to realize they'd accidentally unlocked their powers.

It was a nightmare cycle that fed on itself.

Screams mixed with the sounds of bones breaking, flesh tearing, and insane laughter. The city was falling apart. Streetlights shattered, windows exploded, debris flew everywhere. Anything that could be grabbed became a weapon—bricks, broken glass, metal pipes, plastic chairs from food stalls. Every corner of Jakarta turned into a slaughterhouse.

[ 08:30 ]

[ 08:29 ]

The scene was pure hell.

Dead bodies covered the streets, blood pooling around them like sick rivers. Deep red mixed with dirty water and garbage in the gutters. Severed arms, crushed skulls, torn torsos. Faces that had shown panic just minutes ago were now frozen in expressions of horror or death. The smell of blood, sulfur, and pure terror hung in the air, making people gag and vomit.

In the middle of the chaos, battles raged everywhere. A middle-aged woman in ripped jeans clutched a long screwdriver, her breath coming in short gasps. Her eyes were wild, desperate. She'd just escaped from some psycho who'd tried to stab her with a broken umbrella. Her screwdriver had found his throat, blood spraying everywhere, and now she was hunting for her next target. She had no choice. Kill or be killed.

On the other side of the street, a massive guy who used to be a street thug swung an iron rod with inhuman speed. Each swing crushed a head or knocked someone down. He moved like a machine, no emotion in his eyes, just focus on the counter in his system panel that kept climbing. Two down. He needed one more to be sure. He wanted that power.

A young man who'd been shy and quiet his whole life now gripped a shard of glass from a broken shop window. His body was shaking, but his eyes were ice cold. His best friend had just died right in front of him, head crushed under the stampeding crowd. Fear was gone, replaced by rage and the desperate need to survive. He lunged forward, driving the glass deep into an unsuspecting man's stomach.

Brutal fights broke out on every street corner, at every intersection. Those who were stronger or smarter started hunting the weak. The timid and hesitant became prey.

[ 07:50 ]

[ 07:49 ]

Then the lights started appearing.

One by one. Flashes of golden light like the one that had wrapped around Claude began sparking across the city. People who had successfully killed their targets were suddenly surrounded by cocoons of energy, their bodies lifted off the ground, spinning slowly in the middle of all the carnage. Some looked shocked. Others roared in triumph.

They were the newly Awakened. Some of the people who had been knocked down by Claude's earlier energy burst were now getting back up with dark eyes, having killed someone, feeling that power flow through their veins. They didn't care about Claude anymore—they only cared about the authority they'd just claimed.

Those lights were like lanterns in hell's darkness, making the scattered corpses, the spreading pools of blood, and the human faces twisted by madness even more visible. The hum of energy mixed with screams, the hiss of makeshift weapons, and brutal roars.

Julius floated above it all, his magnificent wings barely moving, sending down cold gusts that stirred his long hair. His golden eyes blazed bright, reflecting the chaos below. His smile was wider than before, full of sick satisfaction.

"Perfect," he whispered, his voice soft but clear to his own ears over the symphony of destruction.

"This is what I needed. This is your race's true nature, revealed under pressure."

He was savoring every second of the show. Every drop of blood, every scream, every transformation. He had lit the fuse, and now the fire was consuming everything. Humans—creatures he thought were beneath him—were proving they had hidden potential for madness and brutal strength. They were just tools to him, but fascinating tools.

Julius raised his hand as if to embrace the entire scene. "Welcome to the new age, humans. An age where the strong rule, and the weak die. An age that will prepare you for what's coming."

The system panels in front of everyone—the Awakened, those fighting for their lives—flickered again, their numbers displayed clearly:

[ 05:00 ]

Only five minutes left.

Five final minutes to decide their fate. Five final minutes to kill or be killed. Five final minutes before the gates to power slammed shut forever, leaving them trapped in the hell they'd just created. The destruction had reached its peak, and now everyone had to face the consequences of their choices.

The countdown continued, and with each passing second, the city died a little more.